Live updates

Tobias Ellwood, Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, said there could be no excuse for the "reprehensible treatment" suffered by Dr Abbas Khan at the hands of the Syrian regime.

“Dr Khan’s imprisonment without consular access was unacceptable. The Foreign Office consistently sought access and pressed for his detention to be reviewed including through ministers and international partners.

The Syrian regime ignored these approaches. It can no longer do so. His family deserve answers and those responsible for Dr Khan’s death should be brought to justice. This is yet another example of the brutal nature of the Syrian regime which has killed thousands of innocent civilians.”

The family of a 32-year-old south London doctor who died in a Syrian prison has welcomed a jury's finding that he was unlawfully killed.

Abbas Khan was captured in Aleppo in November 2012 after travelling from Turkey and died in December last year.

The mother of Abbas Khan, Fatima Khan (left), his sister Sara and brother Afroze speak outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Credit: Press Association

Following a two-week trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, the jury found there was no evidence that he had gone to Syria to fight.

Outside court, Dr Khan's brother, Afroze Khan, said: "We have always maintained that our brother was an innocent man who travelled to Syria for no other reason than helping injured civilians in the conflict. We have always maintained that he was mistreated, maltreated and tortured by the Syrian authorities and that he was murdered by the Syrians.

"Today, our position as a family has been vindicated completely. All the allegations against my brother - that he had gone for any other reason - have been disproved today."

Syrian authorities claim that British doctor Dr Abbas Khan was found hanging in his jail cell, an inquest has heard.

During the opening of an inquest today into the 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon's death, Chief Inspector Grant Mallon told Walthamstow Coroner's Court that the Syrian authorities had stated that Dr Khan's body had been found hanging.

The brother of a British doctor who was found dead in a Syrian prison has paid a moving tribute to him, describing him as "our star."

Dr Abbas Khan was on the verge of being released when he was found dead, with the Syrian regime claiming he took his own life and his family alleging he was murdered.

Dr Abbas Khan was a surgeon from London who died while being held captive in Syria Credit: Family handout

The 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from London was captured in November last year in the ancient city of Aleppo after travelling from Turkey to help victims of hospital bombings. His death was announced on December 17.

At a packed funeral prayer service at Regent's Park mosque in London, his brother Shahnawaz Khan said: "Last night I sat down to undertake the morbid task of writing a eulogy for my brother. My brother, to us, was our star. His star shone on our family."

Dr Khan was described by his brother as the "kindest and simplest man I've ever met".

Mr Khan spoke of "the evil that has taken him from us so cruelly" and said the family had been through "one of the most difficult times we have ever seen".